The Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas - ldwilkersonministries

Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda by Thomas Aquinas 1026
Again, "a holocaust is the offering to God of all that one has," according to Gregory (Hom. xx in Ezech.).
Now man has a threefold good, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. i, 8). First, the good of external things,
which he wholly offers to God by the vow of voluntary poverty: secondly, the good of his own body, and this
good he offers to God especially by the vow of continence, whereby he renounces the greatest bodily
pleasures. The third is the good of the soul, which man wholly offers to God by the vow of obedience,
whereby he offers God his own will by which he makes use of all the powers and habits of the soul. Therefore
the religious state is fittingly constituted by the three vows.
Reply Obj. 1: As stated above (A. 1), the end whereunto the religious vow is directed is the perfection of
charity, since all the interior acts of virtue belong to charity as to their mother, according to 1 Cor. 13:4,
"Charity is patient, is kind," etc. Hence the interior acts of virtue, for instance humility, patience, and so forth,
do not come under the religious vow, but this is directed to them as its end.
Reply Obj. 2: All other religious observances are directed to the three aforesaid principal vows; for if any of
them are ordained for the purpose of procuring a livelihood, such as labor, questing, and so on, they are to be
referred to poverty; for the safeguarding of which religious seek a livelihood by these means. Other
observances whereby the body is chastised, such as watching, fasting, and the like, are directly ordained for
the observance of the vow of continence. And such religious observances as regard human actions whereby a
man is directed to the end of religion, namely the love of God and his neighbor (such as reading, prayer,
visiting the sick, and the like), are comprised under the vow of obedience that applies to the will, which
directs its actions to the end according to the ordering of another person. The distinction of habit belongs to all
three vows, as a sign of being bound by them: wherefore the religious habit is given or blessed at the time of
profession.
Reply Obj. 3: By obedience a man offers to God his will, to which though all human affairs are subject, yet
some are subject to it alone in a special manner, namely human actions, since passions belong also to the
sensitive appetite. Wherefore in order to restrain the passions of carnal pleasures and of external objects of
appetite, which hinder the perfection of life, there was need for the vows of continence and poverty; but for
the ordering of one's own actions accordingly as the state of perfection requires, there was need for the vow of
obedience.
Reply Obj. 4: As the Philosopher says (Ethic. iv, 3), strictly and truly speaking honor is not due save to virtue.
Since, however, external goods serve instrumentally for certain acts of virtue, the consequence is that a certain
honor is given to their excellence especially by the common people who acknowledge none but outward
excellence. Therefore since religious tend to the perfection of virtue it becomes them not to renounce the
honor which God and all holy men accord to virtue, according to Ps. 138:17, "But to me Thy friends, O God,
are made exceedingly honorable." On the other hand, they renounce the honor that is given to outward
excellence, by the very fact that they withdraw from a worldly life: hence no special vow is needed for this.
EIGHTH ARTICLE [II-II, Q. 186, Art. 8]
Whether the Vow of Obedience Is the Chief of the Three Religious Vows?
Objection 1: It would seem that the vow of obedience is not the chief of the three religious vows. For the
perfection of the religious life was inaugurated by Christ. Now Christ gave a special counsel of poverty;
whereas He is not stated to have given a special counsel of obedience. Therefore the vow of poverty is greater
than the vow of obedience.
Obj. 2: Further, it is written (Ecclus. 26:20) that "no price is worthy of a continent soul." Now the vow of that
which is more worthy is itself more excellent. Therefore the vow of continence is more excellent than the vow
of obedience.